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Timeline of world events
HG Wells timeline: Colonial 1600: *Battle of Sekigahara resulted in a Tokugawa victory. *Safavids contacted Holy Roman Empire. Among other subjects discussed was the prospect of an Imperial-Safavid pact against Ottoman Turkey. *Queen Elizabeth I of England granted a charter founding the Honourable East India Company, or EIC. 1602: *Foundation of Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or Dutch East India Company, known as the VOC, in Amsterdam. 1603: *The daimyo of the Tokugawa clan, Tokugawa Ieyasu, was made shogun of all Japan. *Death of Elizabeth I in England. The succession of James I of Stuart to the throne paved the way towards English annexation of Scotland. *Samuel de Champlain, French explorer, sailed to Canada,. In later years, he would found Québec. *Pogrom of ethnic Chinese in Spanish-held Manila. 1620: *''Mayflower'' expedition founded New Plymouth.First Negro slaves landed at Jamestown, present-day Virginia. *Batavia seized by the Dutch VOC from defending Anglo-Malay forces. 1625: *Charles I succeeds James I as king of England. *Franco-Savoyard forces besieged Genoa with little success. *Arrival of Dutch at present-day Manhattan. 1626: *Death of Sir Francis Bacon. *Manhattan Purchase. The Dutch GWC purchased Manhattan (now present-day New York) for the equivalent of several thousand dollars in today's currency from the Powhatan tribe in North America. *Ascension of Hong Taiji as khan of the Manchu tribe and emperor of Qing China. 1641: *Dutch seized Melaka from the Portuguese. *Due to mounting unrest, Charles I forced to flee to North England. *VOC established trading factory of Dejima in Nagasaki; Japan. *Outbreak of disease epidemic in China, devastating the nation. 1643: *Louis XIV king of France. *Dutch mariner Abel Tasman passed by Tonga and Fiji. *Death of Hong Taiji, the first effective Qing emperor of China. *New England Confederation established among Puritan settlements throughout North America as a self-defence league. 1644: *Manchus entered China, effectively establishing Qing dynasty. *Battle of Marston Moor. Royalist forces loyal to Charles I lost Northern England to the Parlamentarians. *Powhatan Rebellion against English colonists at Jamestown, present-day Virginia, USA. 1648: *Treaty of Westphalia, recognising independence of Holland and Switzerland. *War of the Fronde ended, with monarchist victory in France. 1649: *Charles I executed outside Whitehall, London. *Cromwell campaigned in Ireland, devastating major Irish cities such as Wexford and Drogheda. 1660: *Charles II invited back to England to rule. *French crown took Martinique, dispossessing the native inhabitants. *Prussian crown established a standing army. Mercantile 1683: *Battle of Penghu. Taiwan annexed by Qing, effectively ending Chinese independence once and for all. *Second Siege of Vienna ended with Ottoman forces driven from Austria. 1707: *Death of Aurangzeb. The Moghul empire disintegrated. Imperial 1795: *The Directorate in France. Napoleon suppressed a revolt and was expedited to Italy as commander-in-chief of the Armée d'Italie, taking Milan in the same year. *Batavian Republic established in Netherlands after a popular uprising with help by Revolutionary France. The Stathouder and the Dutch aristocracy forced into exile in London. 1798: *Bonaparte successful in Egypt, but returns back to France. *French occupiers driven out following defeat by British at Abukir. 1799: *Bonaparte First Consul of France. *The VOC officially insolvent, and nationalised, effectively coming under control by the Dutch government. 1804: *Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor Napoleon I of France. *Franz II of Austria abandoned the title of "Holy Roman Emperor", effectively ending the Holy Roman Empire as a legal entity. 1806: *Prussians crushed at Jena, effectively coming under French influence. *British industrial iron output estimated to have reached 260,000 tonnes. 1808: *Joseph Bonaparte appointed king of Spain, replacing the Bourbon dynasts. *HMS Hyperion bombarded Nagasaki. 1810: *Uprisings in Spanish America against colonial government. *Jean Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's Generals, installed as Crown Prince of Sweden, eventually crowned Karl III Johan of Sweden in 1818. 1812: *Metric system introduced in France. *Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. *War of 1812 between Britain and America. *Anglo-Portuguese forces retook Madrid from French occupying forces following Battle of Salamanca. 1814: *Troops of the Sixth Coallition entered Paris after heavy fighting, exiling Napoleon to the Italian coast. *Louis XVIII appointed king in Napoleon's stead after the latter's abdication. *Treaty between Britain and Holland: British-held Bangka swapped for Dutch Melaka, consolidating British control over Straits of Melaka. 1824: *Charles X of France. *Simon Bolivar dictator of Peru. *Anglo-Dutch Treaty divided Malay archipelago into British and Dutch spheres of influence. *British territories in New Holland were collectively redubbed as "Australia". Industrial 1825: *Nicholas I of Russia. *First railway established from Stockton to Darlington in Northern Yorkshire, England. *For the first time in history, Beijing is surpassed by London as the world's largest city. 1827: *Battle of Navarino in the Ionian Sea guaranteed Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire. This was the last battle to take place using wooden sailing ships. 1830: *Southern Netherlands seceded to form Kingdom of Belgium, under British auspices. *Louis-Philippe ousted Charles X of France as King. *France invaded Algeria, sparking off French colonisation of Africa. 1835: *The term "Socialism" first emerged in English parlance. *Outbreak of the Texas Revolution. *Charles Darwin reached the Galapagos. His experiences and observations there gave rise to the theory of evolution. *First railway in continental Europe established in Belgium between Brussels and Mechelen. *Treaty of Waitangi between Maori tribes of New Zealand and the British Crown. 1837: *Victoria queen of England. *Introduction of the telegraph by Samuel Morse. 1852: *President Napoleon crowned Napoleon III of France. *British seized Yangdon and Pegu from the Konbaung, gaining control of the Irawaddy.. 1854–1856: *Crimean War. *First streetlamps made their appearance, being powered by coal gas. 1861: *Sardinia succesfully united the Italian homelands, forming the Kingdom of Italy. The Sardinian monarch, Vittorio Emmanuele, installed as king of Italy. *Outbreak of the Civil War in America over the issues of slavery and state autonomy. 1865: *Surrender of Confederate forces at Appomatox Court House, in Richmond, present-day West Virginia. *Japan opened up to the world. Mechanisation 1870: *Napoleon III declared war on Prussia. *Due to popular demand and coercion by Royal troops, the Papal States incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. Subsequently, Rome became the capital of the kingdom. 1871: *Paris surrendered to Prussian forces in January. *From that time onward, the Prussian King would take on the title of Kaiser, or "Emperor of the Germans". *The Treaty of Frankfurt ended the war between France and Prussia, with Alsace-Lorraine annexed to the German Empire. 1878: *Phonograph patented by Thomas Alva Edison. *Cyprus is leased to Britain. *Treaty of Berlin granted independence to three Balkan nations, but set the stage for the Great War. 1888–1895 *Under British auspices, the sultanates of Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang were reformed into the Federated Malay States. 1900: *Outbreak of the Yihe Uprising (in Western circles, the Boxer Rebellion) in China. 1906: *Kingdom of Bali annexed by the Netherlands, ending effective resistance by the Malay peoples against foreign agression. *Iran reformed as a constitutional monarchy. *Commissioning of HMS Dreadnought, the world's first modern battleship. 1910: *Outbreak of the Mexican Revolution. *Japan annexed Korea. *By this time, an estimated 10,000 automobiles were estimated to have been sold by Henry Ford. 1911: *Foundation of the Chinese Kuomintang, which would go on to found the Republic of China in later years. *Outbreak of Xinhai Revolution in China, with coups d'étâts and popular uprisings throughout various Chinese cities. 1912: *Emperor Henry of Qing abdicated. *First military use of aerostat-type craft by the Italians in Libya against Ottoman forces. *Foundation of the Republic of China. *Caisimir Funk, a Polish-American biochemist, identified a compound later known as vitamins. 1914: *An assasination in Sarajevo of the Austrian regent Franz Ferdinand resulted in a diplomatic crisis between Russia and Austria, sparking off the Great War. *Germany, using its alliance with Austria as a pretext, declared war on France. *Later the same year, the Ottoman fleet bombarded Sebastopol, effectively embroiling all Europe into war. 1915: *Italy entered into war on the side of the Triple Entente of Russia, France and Britain. *President Yuan Shikai of China declared himself Emperor of China, but was soon forced to abdicate. 1917: *Germano-American relations deteoriated, due to the Lusitania Incident, the Zimmerman Affair and news of German saboteurs in North America. *Two revolutions in Russia toppled the Tsar. Foundation of the Soviet Union. *The USA entered the Great War on the side of the Entente, later known as the Allies. 1918: *Armistice declared among the European nations, ending the Great War. *Polish Uprising installed Second Polish Republic in Poland. *The German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, abdicated. A German Republic declared 9 November. 1919: *St-Germain treaty dissolved Austria-Hungary, effectively ending the Habsburg dynasty. *Outbreak of Polish-Soviet War with Poland invading the Ukraine. *Ottoman sultanate collapsed. Britain, France, Italy, Greece and an independent Armenia invaded Anatolia and the northern Middle East. 1920: *First metting of the League of Nations. Austria, Turkey and Germany were excluded, however, and the USA refused to join. *Polish forces under Marshall Piłsudski decisively defeated Soviet armies outside Warsaw, ending Soviet aggression in Poland. 1922: *Turkey successfully defended against various European powers led by France, Armenia and Greece, but lost its influence in the Middle East to France. *Fascist March on Rome. Russian history (unedited) Russia began as nothing more than a small patchwork of lands surrounding Moscow and its immediate domains. Russia saw its fair share of good and bad ruler, the best being Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. Russia had advanced into Eastern Europe and became one of the European power brokers by the end of 1800; she had expanded to the east, encompassing Siberia and all the lands between Moscow and the Sea of Okhotsk (north of Japan). Ivan III, first of the sixteenth century rulers of Russia, began creating modern Russia, as we know it. After his campaigns against Novgorod, Tver, and his seizure of bordering Lithuanian towns, Ivan III had made Moscow into a great state, with lands from Finland, east to Obdorsk, and south to Novgorod. His son, Vasily III made several moderate gains, but nothing comparable to what Ivan the Great (Ivan III) had accomplished. However, he did manage to add Smolensk to the domains of the ever-growing Russia. He left behind him a weak family, and after his death in 1533 a council of regency, led by his wife, controlled the nation until Ivan IV, his second son, came of age in 1546 and was crowned Tsar of Russia. During his early reign, the aristocrats and business leaders exerted considerable influence over the government. The leaders of Moscow began campaigns into the Kazan and the Crimea in the 1550s. For the most part these proved costly, but land was gained as a result of minor victories over the various tribes and peoples. In 1558, the Livonian war began, having been started by Ivan's invasion of Livonia. This drew together Sweden, Lithuania, and even Poland in an alliance against Ivan IV. The war ended in 1583 with Russia losing all its claims to Livonia, Lithuania, and it's Estonian towns. History dubbed him Ivan the Terrible, as he was a ruthless and unstable man. He was more famous for his cruel actions than any civil or administrative work he accomplished. Ivan IV's remaining son, Fyodor I was incompetent, and a powerful council of sorts was established again until 1598 when Boris Godunov was crowned Tsar. He made great efforts to reverse Ivan IV's terrible internal policies and helped reform the government. In 1601, a monk named Grigory appeared as the missing son of Ivan IV and gathered support for himself, eventually leading an abortive invasion of Russia to become tsar, but he was defeated by Boris's troops. However, Boris had proved unpopular and Grigory was made Tsar in 1605. Russian Temple Tsar Grigory did not survive long, and in 1606, Vasily Shuysky murdered Grigory and proclaimed himself Tsar. Next followed a long period of turmoil and pathetic administration. Again, the aristocrats and landowners ruled the nation. In 1613, the son of Fyodor I, Michael became Tsar after Grigory's armies deserted him. Michael left a majority of the administration to his relations, and they managed to bring reform and peace. In 1617 and 1618, peace was made with Sweden and Poland respectively. Young Alexis became Tsar upon Michael's passing away in 1645. After initial difficulties, the Tsar won a victory for Russia with the Treaty of Andrusovo, which saw several territorial gains for Russia at the expense of the Poles who they had been at war with. Unfortunately, serfdom became a legal reality during his reign the institution enslaving the peasants to the land they worked, making them the legal property of their masters.. Alexis did encourage trade and links with the West (Europe) and thus expanded Russian influence and interest into that sphere. In 1676, Fyodor III succeeded his father Alexis to the throne of Russia. He continued the emphasis on the West and its relevance to Russia. After a brief period of co-ruling with his brother and the regency of his half-sister, Peter I (Peter the Great) had gained the full title and power of Tsar by 1696. He took a tour of Europe and returned full of new ideas. In 1700, the Great Northern War began with Charles XII's invasion Russian and Poland. After scoring several victories, he again turned to Russia in 1708, but was defeated at Poltava in 1709. Russia made several further territorial gains by the end of the war. Peter also worked on internal reforms and modernized the Russian army along European standards. He also began the construction of St. Petersburg, one of the greatest cities in Russia. Upon his death in 1725, a series of successions followed-Peter the Great had left no clear idea as to who was to succeed him after his death. It was in 1762, that stability and strong leadership was again brought to Russia as Catherine II deposed of Peter III. Catherine II (Catherine the Great) began an aggressive expansionist policy that brought large gains for Imperial Russia. After several campaigns against the Turks, Frederick II (Frederick the Great, Prussia) brought up the Polish question to divert further Russian expansion in the Balkans against the Turks. Russia actively participated in the first and second partitions (dismantling) of Poland, gaining large chunks of land as a result. Catherine began further internal reformations. In 1796, her rather unstable son Paul I was crowned Emperor of All Russias (title created by Peter the Great). He greatly disliked the French Revolution and played a role in the Novi Campaign by sending Survuvov into Italy to fight the French. His reign was ended in 1801 with his murder, his son Alexander I succeeded him. Saxony, in Northern Germany, was divided into two states at the beginning of the period covered by Cossacks, namely Electoral Saxony and Ducal Saxony. Both states were central players in German politics, and Electoral Saxony was, in many ways, the heart of the Reformation. It was within Electoral Saxony, in Wittenberg, that Martin Luther first challenged the precepts of Roman Catholicism, and it was the Elector of Saxony, Frederick the Wise (1486 - 1525) who protected Luther from the wrath of Emperor Charles V and the Catholic Church after he had been condemned as a heretic at the Diet of Worms in 1521. Although Frederick himself remained throughout a Catholic, he saw in Luther's protestations the chance to increase his own power at the expense of that of the Emperor. Frederick's successors were, however, devout Lutherans and highly committed to the Protestant cause. His grandson, Elector John Frederick I (1532 - 1547), enthusiastically joined the Schmalkaldic League against Charles V, and was captured in the Emperor's emphatic victory at the battle of Mühlberg in 1547. Forced to renounce the title of Elector and most of his lands to his cousin, Duke Maurice of Saxony, he was given the Ducal title in compensation, and was allowed to retain only a small remnant of his former territories. He remained in prison until 1552, and ruled as Duke until his death in 1554. The new Elector, Maurice (1547 - 1553), who had allied with Charles in his fight against the Schmalkaldic League, immediately switched allegiances, thereby showing the way for the future foreign policy of Saxon Electors, and allied himself with Henry II of France. He forced the Emperor to free Philip of Hesse, the former leader of the Schmalkaldic League, at the Treaty of Passau in 1552, and was killed in battle the following year against Albert Alcibiades of Brandenburg. Saxony next burst onto the international stage when Elector Frederick Augustus I (1694 - 1733) was elected King of Poland n 1697. In this capacity, he involved himself in the Northern War (1700 - 1721) against King Charles XII of Sweden, losing Warsaw and Krakow to the Swedes, and being forced to give up his Kingdom at the Treaty of Altranstädt in 1706. 3 years later, however, after Charles's defeat at the hands of the Russians at Poltava, Fredrick was able to recover Poland, which he ruled until his death in 1733. Frederick's son, Elector Frederick Augustus II (1733 - 1763) was elected King of Poland by a minority, and had to fight for 2 years before he was secure in his Kingdom. He also got involved in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 - 1748), initially supporting Maria Theresa of Austria, but soon changed sides when he failed to receive concessions he had hoped for. He came to terms with the Austrians in 1743, however, and switched sides again. He remained on the side of the Austrians until the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the conflict. Saxon 18th Century Barracks Conflict would return to Saxon soil with the Seven Years War (1756 -1763), which began with Frederick II of Prussia's occupation of the territory, Frederick Augustus II being forced to flee to Poland, where he spent the duration of the war before his lands were restored to him in 1763, just before his death. On his death, the union of Saxony and Poland was broken, only to be restored temporarily between 1807 and 1814, when his grandson Elector Frederick Augustus III (1763 - 1806, later King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony 1806 - 1827) was created Grand Duke of Warsaw by Napoleon Bonaparte. Not all was war in Saxony, however. Its capital Dresden was seen by many as the "Florence of the Elbe", with its wonderful baroque and Romanesque architecture. Indeed, it was regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world right until it was more or less destroyed in World War II. Elector Frederick Augustus I initiated the production of porcelain at Meissen, and another Saxon city, Leipzig, was a centre of music, literature and scholarship. The mathematician Leibnitz lived there, as did the authors Gottsched, Gellert and Schiller (even the young Goethe studied at the university there in 1765). The great composer Johann Sebastian Bach was cantor at the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig from 1723 until his death. The nature of the Electoral office held by its rulers throughout this period meant that Saxony played an important role in German and European politics. In many ways, its story is one of shifting allegiances and gradual political and territorial decline, especially after the attention of its rulers was distracted by Poland in the eighteenth century. Culturally, however, it was a true trendsetter, being the residence of some of Europe's finest literary and musical figures. Spain is one of the most famous (well-known) of the European powers at the time of Cossacks: European Wars. If one remembers one thing from world history class, it was that the Spanish conquered the Aztecs and Incans. Everyone is familiar with Cortes and his muskets conquering the mighty Central American cultures. We all know of Pizarro and his destruction of the Incan Empire in South America. Some of us even remember King Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, who sent Columbus on his voyage in 1492 to discover the New World. As important and influential as the Spanish conquest of the New World was, we forget and overlook the events and actions that took place on the Continent, where Spain was as active as ever. One thing a person needs to keep in mind is that Spain was more like a federation than a unified state, like France. Each of the large Spanish provinces, acted as though it was an independent state. The states of Aragon, Castile, Granada, all of them had there own history, peoples, culture, and language even. Spain had experienced an invasion by the Moors and it was not until 1492 that they were driven out of Spain, ending in the final conquest of Granada. It was as late as 1479 that Spain was finally united, under one crown: Ferdinand II. It was Ferdinand II and Isabella who held court and sent Columbus out West with some Spanish ships and finances to cover his expedition. With the discovery of the New World, Spain immediately began claiming the lands therein. A dozen expeditions were launched, each made up of explorers, missionaries, and troops sent over to explore and conquer these vast lands in the name of God and Spain. Soon, all the other European powers were trading and conquering in the New World. The Portuguese amassed a fortune quickly, but in 1580, Spain annexed Portugal. It wouldn't be until 1640 that Portugal regained her independence. Such men as Hernando Cortes, Ponce de Leon, Narvaez, de Vaca, and Pizarro led expeditions covering the domains from the southwestern United States to central South American mountains. In this New World they found minerals in abundance. Ships by the dozens carried loads of gold and silver from the Americas to Spanish ports. However, there trade did not go unspoiled, piracy became more and more abundant in the late 1500s as England and France encouraged pirates to seize Spanish galleons on their way to Spain. In 1516, Charles I became the King of Spain. Charles I was from the Habsburg royal family line. His father, Emperor Maximilian I, had arranged his marriage into Spanish royalty. He began what was known as the Spanish Habsburg line. In 1519, Charles was crowned Holy Roman Emperor upon his father's death, making him Charles V. A series of wars with the Turks ensued and conflict developed between the German Lutherans and Catholics. By 1556, he had had enough, and abdicated his Spanish throne to his son Philip II, the Holy Roman Empire and the Austrian domains were passed onto Ferdinand I, his brother. Charles V moved into a monastery were he lived until his death in 1558. Spanish 18th Century Barracks The reign of Philip II was of a more mediocre note. He launched several campaigns of his own, but almost all of them proved to be dismal failures. His war with the Turks ended in stalemate. Philip's war against France was a costly defeat. He is most famous for ordering the Spanish Armada to invade England in 1588, and as we all know, this ended in a fiasco. Philip encouraged the Inquisition, which was a powerful Church organization that sought to Christianize the entire Spanish population and condemn any who would profess a faith contrary to that of the Roman Catholic Church. Perhaps his worst move was his lack of understanding for the Dutch, whose lands were under Spanish authority (the Netherlands). In 1581, they revolted and declared their independence. Philip's army was unable to prevent the rebellion or stop their independence. However, Spain retained a lower territory, which later became the Spanish Netherlands. This territory was under Spanish rule until 1713, when it was ceded to the Austrian Habsburgs. In 1700, a crisis began when Charles II could not produce an heir to the throne. Charles then chose the Duke d'Anjou to be his successor. He was to be crowned as Philip V of Spain. Philip V was a grandson of Louis XIV, and his ascension as King Philip V meant the Habsburgs lost their Spanish dynasty, and the Bourbons began theirs. The Austrians wanted to install the archduke Charles as the new king. This conflict quickly erupted into the War for Spanish Succession (1701-1714). The war itself was fought almost entirely between the French against the English and Germans. France was unlucky for the most part; Marlborough cleaned them up in his campaigns. However, by 1710, the Allies began to split in interests. Charles's limited conquest of Catalonia failed to establish any respectable power in Spain. Upon his father's passing, he was elected Holy Roman Emperor and Emperor of Austria. The British, seeing that it would be foolish to fight on and make him King of Spain as well, concluded peace with Spain and France. Charles had to give up his claims to the Spanish throne and the Bourbon family replaced the Spanish Habsburgs. The Bourbons would remain in power until 1808, when briefly ousted by Napoleon until 1814 (the Peninsular War). The Seven Years' War proved to be another territorial shuffling match. The Treaty of Paris (1763) forced the concession of almost all the French territories in America. Spain lost the southern United States lands, but gained Louisiana. Spain carried out little policy with its new acquisition, it tended to concentrate on Florida and it's Central and South American dependencies. In 1800, Spain transferred the Louisiana territory back to France at the Treaty of San Ildefonso. By another treaty three years later, Napoleon Bonaparte sold Louisiana to the United States of America. For all the gold and silver and minerals brought in from her colonies and empire, Spain itself remained largely poor. The government, run by the landowner's and those who had run the trading with the colonies, were fabulously rich. The Spanish court was one of the wealthiest in Europe. However, such extravagant spending of wealth on palaces, the court, and diplomatic bribery was wasteful and unproductive. The majority of the population was poor and never saw the benefits of the vast quantities of gold and silver shipped in from the Americas. The unity of the Spanish was not by blood, or by wealth, or social status, it was by religion. Almost every citizen was a Catholic. The Jews and Muslims were driven and exiled from Spanish soil, or converted. The staunch Catholicism of the Spanish was the single factor unifying their nation. The Catholic religion remained in power for many years to come. By the close of the eighteenth century, Spain's power in European affairs had declined drastically. Internationally, Spain still had some exertions over her American domains. But even these would be taken away within a few decades. Spain had initially declared war on the French Republic (1793), but she was too weak to wage a war and France came out with several gains in territory by 1795 when peace was made. This uneasy peace would last until 1807. The events that would follow Napoleon's conquest of Spain and the revolution that again freed it, were yet another sad chapter Spain's history. The Peninsular War (1808-1814) directly contributed to the rapid decline ending with the destruction of Spain's colonial empire in the Americas. The story of Spain has always been one of great sadness and great power. The years 1500 through 1800 were no different. The history of Sweden during the time frame of Cossacks is a story of many battles and wars.